I better write this quick, because each morning, for the past 7 weeks, I put “blog post” at the top of my list and by 10pm my 20 minutes of total hands-free time throughout the day gets used up by laundry and refilling my water bottle and by the time the kid-who-only-sleeps-at-night is in bed I’m exhausted, and I put it at the top of tomorrow’s list!
He’s here! I managed to talk Bob out of naming him Bobson Gotham Danger Gilbey by agreeing to Emmett, since he was almost born on Back to the Future Day. I managed to get my brother’s name as a middle name though, and Bob says his nickname will be EmC. :)
Emmett is 7 weeks old! He was 2 weeks early so he’s still teeny, but he’s growing. And eating. AND EATING. He’s already nearly 9 pounds! I’ve been posting pictures on Instagram since that’s the easiest so you may have been following along, but basically I had a really rough delivery and recovery and Emmett had a tough first week as well. He stopped moving and it took me 3 days and sleepless nights to convince someone that his sudden lack of ninja kicks and star jumps meant something was wrong, and once they decided he needed to come out they induced me so fast we had him out 3 hours after they broke my water. Ouch! Then we went round and round with home health nurses (who ranged from useless to insulting) and landed back in the NICU to get him under the jaundice lights. The traumatic first 2 weeks took us to his due date and we finally were able to get his tongue tie cut. It took another 2 weeks for me to really start to feel like I was healing even a little bit, and the last two weeks have mostly been cluster feeding and cuddles, but we’re doing really well now. Breastfeeding is HARD. Like, really hard. We had to supplement with formula at the beginning because of the jaundice and that plus the tongue tie was a terrible start, so we had to make a huge effort to make up for it and wow, it’s painful and exhausting. Bob has taken amazing care of us but he’s back to work now, so I better start training up my little assistant soon if I ever want to get any work done! Here is a (very) small selection of Emmett pictures, and just after them, there is some sewing related material…*
**
Loki has claimed the nursing pillow and will be getting one of his own for Christmas!
You should be sewing!!! (OK, *I* should be sewing!!!)
Erin and Bob and Emmett and the puppies
Supplementary from Bob
Since Erin started writing this post, (we had to edit 4 weeks to 5 weeks to 6 weeks to now 7 weeks) Loki is doing a lot better, however, he is being heavily medicated. He also likes the sedatives that the vet prescribed. For the week where he had codeine and the sedative, he was a very funny boy. Both dogs adore Emmett, and Loki is semi-attached to Emmett at all times. No longer is his destination based entirely on food availability, but now on where Emmett is. We think he is ensuring that Erin and I are taking care of him. Also, the pattern pieces have made it into phase 2 of the prototyping process!
Bob’s Disclaimers:
*This pun brought to you by Bob. I’m a dad now, dad jokes are encouraged
**Note: Pepsi in Baby Bottle Pocket… Because we are such amazing parents
***This is a lie. Erin plans on spamming her Instagram with baby pics
****This is a conservative estimate
*****May not be mid-January
Emmett is adorable! Glad all doing better!
Thanks for the pictures and update. Beautiful family. Things will get easier – just takes time.
First off congratulations you two did a nice job! He’s adorable! Secondly as a mom of three boys 20, 17, 13, my advice one mom to another enjoy every single second of Emmett! I was 23 when I had my first and if I could go back and tell myself one thing it would be slow down and enjoy every second of them. It goes so fast and all your left with is memories, which are wonderful but sometimes I wish I realized they were more important than cooking cleaning and everything else.
Your prototype can wait, we can all wait. We aren’t going anywhere! Squeeze your little boy, linger over him while he naps and just enjoy the bliss he’s bringing the two of you right now.
Congratulations again.
I whole heartedly agree, my boys never remember the cleaning, just the goofy cuddles.
He’s a beautiful boy, and yes, just enjoy and don’t worry about anything else for the moment. Those baby days go so quickly, before you know it he’ll be in school and then you’ll have time for all the other things. We will still be here. Congratulations and take care
Emmett is beautiful and so alert. I could continue but it’s better if you spend time with Emmett, et al. Maybe future bags could have different colored zippers or a little colored patch, a different color on each side or a triangle, something that would look like it was meant to be part of the design. Enjoy the time and forgot about the blog except for photos of Emmett as he meets his world.
Erin & Bob: congratulations on a beautiful little guy! He’s adorable and I’m glad to hear everyone is healthy and on the mend. I love your choice of name too; it’s classy, uncommon, and subtly geeky.
The diaper bag prototype looks AWESOME and I will look forward to getting my hands on it! My repertoire has been sorely lacking in the “diaper bags I don’t absolutely hate sewing because they’re grotesquely complicated” category. I eagerly volunteer as a tester when you get it ready :)
But! In the meantime, enjoy your precious little boy, your husband, and your fur babies! Rest when you can, and sew when you’re ready. Your adoring fans will still be here :)
Have a wonderful first Christmas with baby Emmett, and try to find a little time to go see the Force Awakens (priorities, obviously)!!
Happy holidays!
Jessy
Thanks for all the wonderful photos. I love the name, Emmett, and am so glad to see something not following the trends. Life will certainly be different now, but you WILL get used to it. As the others have advised, try to cherish these moments because each day is different and they will all be gone way too soon.
Congratulations, he is adorable! Love all the pics and the explanation of all those asterix at the end, very funny! Enjoy your baby, they grow up too quickly
Congratulations!
Beautiful words and photos – I enjoyed every one of them! Congratulations!
From the last pic I would say you got a vulcan :D. Happy healing and I hope it will get less crazy than it still is.
Congratulation! He is beautiful! Enjoy every minute with him…it goes so fast. Everything else can just wait.
Congratulations! Such sweet pictures of your wee one.
I breast fed six (not a typo) babies and it really does get a lot easier after the first couple months. At first you are so tired and sore, etc but after awhile it is SO much easier than dealing with formula and bottles. I don’t know why no-one tells you it IS really hard at first, probably so you will still do it lol, but it is.
You guys are awesome parents and don’t sweat the patterns until you settle into a good routine if you can. We will still be here.
Hey, you’re making progress! But like everyone else said, don’t worry about the patterns – enjoy your fleeting time with Emmett. I remember thinking with my first that babies take 150% of your time! That first one, especially, really changes your life like you couldn’t have imagined beforehand!
So glad to hear things are improving all around. They’ll keep getting better!
WTF!! The Australians made a big fuss about Johnny Depp’s dogs bein quarantined when they brought em over, now we know why he tried to skirt that whole thing!! Poor Loki! Me, Whimsy, Peanut and Roxy are prayin that Loki gets well and back to normal soon. BTW Erin are they helping with the vet bills? They almost killed your poor dog; that’s wrong that they demand quarantine when it’s obviously not safe; nor is it healthy for people’s animals and then you’re stuck with the bills for it!! I’d be raising one hell of a fuss; wasn’t Loki’s health record from his Vet here enough?
I think it’s wrong for them to demand quarantine and then have the dog’s life in jeopardy!! There has to be something done about that over there!!
Emmett is adorable, congratulations to you and hubby on your new son. Welcome to the world Sweet Baby Emmett! God Bless you all!
Regina
Heartfelt Congratulations on your baby Emmett!!! He is adorable and I so enjoyed seeing the pictures of him!!! And of your doggies and you and Bob!!!
My first child was tongue-tied too and it was a dreadful battle breast feeding, I had three children and they were all difficult to nurse those first 2 months, it’s not easy!
Take care and enjoy your baby, we will be here waiting when you come back!!! :D
hey erin and bob congratulations on emmett he is precious. got a question could and when the diaper bag pattern come out can it be used for a laptop bag too. just wondering . praying for all of you . have a great and bless day. oh by the way love your patterns can’t wait to make one.
Doc Brown would be so proud of your decision on your baby’s name! Emmett is just TOO TOO! Don’t worry about how MANY pictures you share; just make sure you share. ;)
Congratulations to the entire family! <3
Aaaahhhhhhhh
Emmett is so handsome and so precious as he comes so fresh from God.
Enjoy
Blessings, Connie Sue
Congratulations! Your happiness is so evident from the photos and the text. Please keep sharing baby photos. Emmett is beautiful, the dogs are so cute, Bob is lucky, and you are doing great with your new family!
Wow, he is so cute! I know exactly what you mean about being stuck on the couch all day, daydreaming about sewing. Eventually he’ll eat less frequently, and you’ll get back into it. And I also totally relate to the breastfeeding struggle at first. Wishing you well! Congrats!
I’m SO glad you all are doing well. Breastfeeding IS hard. A few great places for encouragement and understanding that I found helpful online are the leaky boob and Kellymom. You both look like your enjoying parenthood and your little peanut. They change your world so much but in the best way possible. Sewing is fun but babies are better ;-)
Congratulations! !!!!!
I’m late to the baby welcoming party, but congratulations!! I can’t help but wonder though–you sew, and you’re complaining of not having a free hand…why haven’t you sewn some slings? Ring slings, pouch slings, mei tais, they’re all SO easy to sew! It’s what got me started sewing, 11 years ago :) He’s adorable!!